Kobero, the border of shame : humiliation, extortion, and official silence in the face of Congolese ordeal

SOS Médias Burundi

Muyinga, November 12, 2025 – At the Kobero border crossing between Burundi and Tanzania, Congolese nationals are recounting scenes of humiliation, extortion, and degrading treatment inflicted by some Burundian officials. Between arbitrary pushbacks, illegal fines, and discriminatory remarks, testimonies are multiplying, illustrating an abusive system and a disturbing indifference on the part of the authorities.

Travelers treated like suspects

For several weeks, Congolese fleeing the war or traveling from the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu have been describing a true ordeal. These regions have partially fallen under the control of the M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda according to UN experts, a claim Kigali denies.

Facing them, the Congolese forces rely on the local Wazalendo militias, supported by Kinshasa and the Burundi National Defense Force (FDNB).

In Kobero, several accounts describe insults, long hours of detention, and extortion imposed by some border agents.

“At the Kobero border, I was asked to pay 100 US dollars, or about 700,000 Burundi francs, just to have my passport stamped,” says Mulume, originally from Bukavu, the former capital of South Kivu, now under the control of the M23.

“When I asked why, an agent replied : ‘The Congolese have dollars, and besides, you come from a rebel-held area.’” “I tried to reason with them, but they refused.” After waiting for ten hours, I had to call my family in Bujumbura to have the money sent to me.”

Repeated abuses and a disturbing silence

These practices are far from isolated. Several travelers denounce the actions of a police colonel, the chief officer of the Kobero border post, accused of arbitrary pushbacks and verbal and physical abuse of Congolese people.

The situation seems hardly better in Bujumbura, the commercial capital, where several Congolese have recently been arrested, imprisoned, and sometimes expelled to the Kavimvira border crossing, between Bujumbura and Uvira, which became the capital of South Kivu after the fall of Bukavu.

“I was arrested during a wave of checks. I was accused of not having my household records up to date,” testifies a Congolese national from the Cibitoke neighborhood. “To be released, I had to pay 250,000 Burundi francs. It was that or stay in prison.”

“Other compatriots, holders of passports or documents from the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL), were expelled because their visas had expired more than three months ago,” he adds.

Victims of a war they did not choose

Even Congolese citizens with official documents are not spared. Tumusifu, who came from Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo and capital of North Kivu, also under M23 control, recounts his journey :

“I wanted to go to Bujumbura for a funeral in my wife’s family.” Since I understood that Burundian authorities often refuse documents from areas controlled by the M23, I made a long detour through Uganda to obtain safe passage from the DRC embassy in Kampala. “Upon arriving in Kobero, I was again asked for 100,000 Burundi francs to have my document stamped. Without it, I was told I couldn’t enter.”

Dr. Kitumaini’s appeal : “Restoring the dignity of humiliated Congolese”

In a statement published on November 8, 2025, in Bukavu, Dr. Kitumaini Munyahali John, a surgeon and lecturer-researcher at the Evangelical University in Africa (UEA), expressed his compassion and outrage at these treatments, which he described as “contrary to all forms of humanity, fraternity, and African solidarity.”

“Living under the control of the M23 does not make a Congolese citizen a rebel,” he insists.

“They are victims, displaced persons, innocent people held hostage by a war they neither wanted nor provoked.”

Dr. Kitumaini calls on :

Congolese parliamentarians to raise their voices for their humiliated constituents;

the DRC government to undertake firm diplomatic steps with the Burundian authorities;

and the President of the Republic to make the protection of Congolese citizens a national priority.

He concludes with a message of unity and hope :

“Being from the East should not be a misfortune or a source of shame.”

“The Congolese dignity is one and indivisible.”

“I call for solidarity, compassion, and concrete action to restore justice and dignity to our forgotten compatriots.”

A call for regional responsibility

As tensions persist in the Great Lakes region and the flow of Congolese refugees to neighboring countries—particularly Burundi—intensifies, this statement sounds both like a cry from the heart and a moral warning.

All eyes are now on Kinshasa and Gitega, awaiting a diplomatic response and a serious investigation into the practices at the Kobero border crossing.

But in a context of strained relations between Gitega and Kigali, security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told SOS Médias Burundi that Burundian authorities fear infiltration by criminals or rebels affiliated with Rwanda or the M23, transiting through the Kobero border post, which is considered less suspicious. These concerns are rooted in a historical context : the land borders with Rwanda have been closed since January 2024, amid accusations that Kigali is supporting armed groups hostile to Gitega and coup plotters implicated in the 2015 coup attempt in Burundi.